Ventilating device



H. J. SMITH.

VENTILATING DEVICE.-

APPLICATION FILED MAR.31|1920.

1,402,10L Patented Jan. 3,1922.

Iraq/enter Wd'ness stare i r" I F,"

HARRY J. SMITHpOF BELLEVUE BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

VENTILATING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Application filed March 31, 1920. Serial No. 370,122.

useful improvements in ventilating devices.

In the case of bed roomsin private homes, and also in hospital rooms, ventilation, especially at night, by the admission of air through an unobstructed or wire screened open window, is not recommended by physicians, especially in cases where there is a tendency to bronchial or pulmonary troubles, or, generally, in the case of delicate or aged persons.

Physicians recommend that the air be fil tered through a screen of coarse cheesecloth,- muslin or other fabric. The present practice is to tack the fabric over a frame which is set in the window frame under the edge of the partially opened sash.

The fabric, especially in cities, quickly becomes soiled and unsightly owing to the deposit of soot and dust from the entering air, which deposit also in time clogs the interstices in the material and thus renders the latter more or less impervious.

Thus the material must at frequent intervals be removed from its frame and a clean piece substituted, an operation which, owing to its tediousness, and which in a hospital containing hundreds of beds is a stupendous undertaking, is generallyneglected.

Also, it is customary to filter theair-admitted from the outside atmosphere to ,a hot air furnace or other house or building heating or ventilating system, and such screens, generally formed of cheese-cloth, muslinv or some other fabric, should be frequently renewed if the air is to be freely admitted and effectually filtered.

Many other instances of like character will suggest themselves to one acquainted with the art.

The object which I have in view is the provision of convenient means whereby the soiled material may be removed from service and clean material substituted by a simple operation requiring no removal or replacement of tacks, nails or screws, and in a moment of time, so that an attendant may quickly and at stated intervals renew the ventilating screens in a large hospital, or a other building, or the nurse or attendant of an invalid may, whenever deemed necessary, quickly substitute fresh, clean material for the soiled material displaced.

For this purpose, I have provided a pair of rollers, one a dispensing roller and the other a receiving roller, and said rollers are mounted on either side, preferably at the top and bottom of the opening through which the air is to enter, such, for instance,

as the opening made in a window by raising the lower sash or lowering the upper sash. The dispensing rollerhas mounted therein a roll or supply of cheese cloth or other suitable material and the loose end of said material is attachedto the receiving roller, being thus extended across the opening which it is desired to screen.

Thus, by winding up the material on the receiving roller and accordingly unwinding it from the dispensing rollerat proper in tervals, a length of material which has occupied the ventilating opening until it has become fouled, may be wound up out of the way on the receiving roller, and a fresh I and clean length exposed for, service.

Forconvenience, I prefer to mount the roller on the top and bottom bars of a frame which fits in the window frame, or other opening, and'in the case of a window frame, either below'the partially or wholly raised lower frame or. above the partially or wholly lowered upper frame. r

I also provide means for holding the exposedlength of material" snug and flat against the ventilator frame.

I also prefer to provide the ventilator frame. with wire screening, which should be at the outside of the cheese cloth to protect the same, andalso to enable the frame to be used. as a Wire screen with the cheese cloth omitted, if desired In the case of large openings, I prefer to support the fabric on both sides.

I prefer. to use a spring roller for the dispensing roll to prevent excess unwinding of the material, the receiving roller being provided with means for conveniently rotating it to wind up the material, and also with means to prevent unwinding rotation of the receiving roll.

Other novel features of construction and arrangement of parts Wlll appear. from the following description.

' tially raised and 'D is the ventilator frame inserted in the window frame under the bot-' lower sash; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line II-II in Fig. 1; Fig.3 is an elevation showing the ventilator frame removed from the window, and the rollers and cheese cloth are also omitted; Fig. 4 is a broken end view of the ventilator frame looking toward the left in Fig. 3, the lower roller being shown in place, and Fig. 5 is a broken perspectlve showlng a corner of the stretcher used to hold the exposed breadth of material tautly on the frame.

. The following is a detailed description'of the drawings.

A represents a window frame in which are mounted the usual lower sash B and upper sash C slidablein vertical planes. In Fig. 1 the lower sash B is shown partom rail 1 of the lower sash Bp y The frame D may be ofwood or metal as may be desired, and may fit the window frame snugly, if desired,- I prefer however to form one end bar of the frame D with an upwardly and inwardly inclined vertical edge, so that a reversely inclined wedge member Qmay be used to fit the frame D snugly in the window frame and to permit the convenientremoval of the frame D from the window frame when desired. Thus by providing wedge members 2 of various widths, the frame may be fitted into window frames of a relatively wide ran e of widths, thus enabling me to place on the market a standard length, or possibly a small number of standard lengths of the ventilation frame which can be used in windows of practically any size. 1 i

The hereof the frame D are preferably provided with a rabbet 3 along their inner edges at outside of the frame for the wire screen 4t which may be held in place by the moldingii, thus providing a convenient in sert screen for the window. Thewirescrcen also aids in holding the fabric in place, and

when intended for this purpose only a coarse wire grid or simply vertical or horizontal bars or wires may be substituted. 3

At either end of the frame D and at the top and bottom, I provide on the inner face I have shown the dispensing roller at the top of the frame and the receiving roller at its bottom, but it will be understood that their positions may be reversed, or they may be vertically disposed at either end of the frame D. i

The dispensing roller ,E is provided with a web or relatively long length of cheese cloth Gor other suitable fabric whose outer .or free end is led across the inner face of the frame opening and attached by any con venient means to the receiving roller F, and thus, when the exposed portion of the material becomes fouled from continued use, the receiving roller may be rotated to wind up the material thereon until a fresh portion of the material G is unwound from the roller E and exposed on the frame D.

For convenience in rotating the receiving roller to wind up the soiled material, I provide means which may be conveniently grasped, such as the finger knob 8 on the end V of the roller shaft, and to prevent the roller F from being reversely rotated, thus unwinding the soiled material stored therein, I prefer to provide the roller shaft with a ratchet wheel 9 whichis engaged by a trailing pawl l0 mountedon the frame D.

When the material has been unwound from the dispensing roller, onto the receiving roller, both rollers are dismounted, and a fresh loaded dispensing roller. and empty receiving rollersubstituted, the fouled material being removed from the dismounted receiving roller and after being laundered, rewound on the dispensing roller for reuse.

It is desirable to havethe material G stretchedsnugly over and ti htly against the lnside surface of the frame?) so that it will resent a neat appearance, andalso that all the-entering air will be forced to pass frame, itwill fully cover the entire opening in the frame.

Any convenient method may be used to stretch and hold the material in place. Thus,

I have shown theinner face of the frame D provided with a groove or seat 11 spaced from the inner edge of the frame and running around the same in the form, preferably, of a parallelogram, and H is astretcher of similar contour and preferably pressed of more or less resilient metal adapted to it against theinnerface of the frameD, with the material Ginterposed between the stretcher and'the face of the frame D, the

boss or rearward shoulder 12 which is adapted to be sprung into the seat 11 carrying with it the material G. Thus the portion of the material exposed is stretched taut and snugly against the inner face of the frame D, completely closing the opening and better enabling the material to permit the passage of the air therethrough. Of course, the stretcher H is removed before a fresh portion of material is unwound from the dis pensing roller and disposed across the face of the frame D, and the stretcher is then replaced to properly stretch the exposed material.

The material should be of suflicient width to be properly engaged by said stretcher, the stretcher preferably covering and concealing the edges of the material, which edges need not, therefore, be hemmed or finished, as the torn'or raw edge is protected and concealed from view. Thus the lengths of material to be used in the ventilators may be quickly and cheaply prepared by tearing strips of the proper width from the commercial pieces.

lVhere the ventilating opening is relatively large, I find it advantageous to provide the frame H with one or more horizontal or vertical cross bars 13 which bear against the inner face of the exposed mate rial G and prevent inward bulging and possible rupture of the material on a. windy day or under the influence of a strong ventilating fan or other suction device.

Such bars also coact with the screen or bars on the outside of the frame D to hold the material fiat.

It is evident from the foregoing that my invention is highly advantageous for many uses, such as in window and other ventilating openings. cealing screen in the window of doctors and dentists offices where ventilationwhich does not sacrifice privacy is desired.

What I desire to claim broadly is l. A ventilator of the character described and adapted to be inserted in the ventilating opening, comprising a frame, a pair of rollers journaled on opposed bars of said frame, a length of ventilating material wound on one of said rollers with its outer end led across said frame and attached to the other roller, whereby when the portion of said material exposed between said rollers becomes fouled, the soiled portion thereof may be wound up on the second roller and a fresh portion unwound from said first named roller and exposed on said frame, and means for stretching the exposed portion of said material snugly against said frame.

2. A ventilator of the character described and adapted to be inserted in the ventilating opening, comprising a frame, apair of rollers journaled on opposed bars of said frame, a length of ventilating material wound on It may also be used as a conone of said rollers with its outer end led across said frameand attached to the other roller, whereby when the portion of said material exposed between said rollers be roller and'exposed on said frame, and a stretcher for holding the exposed portion of said material taut and snug against said frame.

3. A ventilator of. the character described and adapted to be inserted in the ventilating opening, comprising a frame, a pair of rollers journaled on opposed bars of said frame, a length of ventilating material wound on one of said rollers with its outer end led across said frame and attached to the other roller, whereby when the portion of said material exposed between said rollers becomes fouled, the soiled portion thereof may be wound up on the second roller and a fresh portion unwound from said first named roller and exposed on said frame,said frame being provided with a seat surrounding the opening in the frame, and a stretcher adapted to engage said seatto hold the exposed portion of said material taut and snug against said frame.

4t. A ventilator of the character described and adapted to be inserted in the ventilating opening, comprising a frame, a pair of rollers journaled on opposed bars of said frame, a length of ventilating material wound on one of said rollers with its outer end led.

across saidframe and attached to the other roller, whereby when the portion of said material exposed between said rollers becomes fouled, the soiled portion thereof may bewound up on the second named roller and a fresh portion unwound from said first named roller and exposed on said frame, and restraining'means bearing on the edges of said exposed material to prevent inward bulging of the material.

5. A ventilator of the character described and adapted to be inserted in the ventilating opening, comprising'a frame, a pair of rollers journaled on opposed bars of said frame, a length of ventilating material wound on one of said rollers with its outer end led across said frame and attached to the other roller, whereby when the portion of said.

material exposed between said rollers becomes fouled,the soiled portion thereof may be wound up on the second named roller and a fresh portion unwound from said first named roller and exposed on said frame, and means on either side of said exposed material to hold the same in proper position against the frame.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa. this 25th day of March 1920.

HARRY J. SMITH. 

